Formosa victims' families gather in support at Houston hospital

Jean Downs, 69, of Port Lavaca, left, and JoAnna Flores, 58, right, of Port Lavaca, sit together in the waiting room at the burn unit at Memorial Hermann in Houston. Downs is the mother of Jeffery Downs, 42, and Flores is his mother-in-law. Jeffery Downs was one of the injured in the incident at Formosa Plastics plant in Point Comfort. "He had second-degree burns, but I don't think he was one of the worst injured," Downs said.

HOUSTON - On Friday, more than a dozen members of Bernard Mendoza's family gathered in the waiting room of Memorial Hermann Health System's burn unit.

Mendoza, 37, of Inez, was one of five Formosa employees burned in a flash fire at the plant earlier that morning. Four victims were flown to the Houston hospital by medical helicopter, and the fifth was taken by ambulance to Citizens Medical Center in Victoria.

"They're all worried about each other," said Mendoza's aunt, Sandy Valle, of Houston.

Mendoza's entire face was burned, and his lungs might have absorbed some of the damage, too, said Valle.